Profectus BioSciences In-Licenses Portfolio of Patents to Support Vesicular Stomatitis Virus-vectored Vaccine for Ebola and Marburg Viruses
BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Profectus BioSciences, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against infectious diseases and cancers, announced today that it has in-licensed a portfolio of patents to support its vaccine program for Ebola and Marburg viruses. Assembled from a number of academic and biopharma sources, the patents provide Profectus with access to the enabling technologies needed to advance its recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (rVSV) vectored vaccine through commercialization.
Profectus has developed a live replication competent VSV vector that has been attenuated so as not to cause illness in animals or humans. Using recombinant genetic techniques, rVSV vectors have been created that express the surface glycoproteins from Ebola and Marburg viruses. A series of pre-clinical studies conducted in collaboration with academic and NIH investigators have shown that a single injection of the rVSV-Ebola vaccine is able to protect guinea pigs and rhesus macaques against an otherwise lethal challenge with the highly pathogenic Zaire strain of Ebola virus.
As previously announced, a phase 1, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study to assess the safety and immunogenicity of a Profectus rVSV-vectored HIV vaccine will initiate in the next few weeks. The rVSV HIV vaccine was found to be safe and immunogenic in non-human primates and is the first vaccine based on the rVSV platform to be tested in humans.
About Profectus BioSciences, Inc.
Profectus BioSciences, Inc. is a technology based vaccine company devoted to the treatment and prevention of acute and chronic viral diseases with the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality. Since its inception in 2003, the Company's strategic intent has been to acquire and develop the technologies needed to deliver on that mission. The Company in-licensed a group of vaccine-based technologies from Wyeth in 2008 that greatly accelerate its ability to deliver highly effective therapeutic vaccines based on a "prime-boost" strategy. This strategy uses the delivery of a best-in-class plasmid DNA (pDNA) vaccine to "prime" the immune system, followed by a first-in-class "boost" using a recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (rVSV) vector. Current disease and virus targets include Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), Herpes Simplex Virus type 2 (HSV-2), and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and Malaria.